AUTHOR'S NOTE: Firstly I would like to thank everyone who have been following this story. I know I do not normally induce an author's note into my stories because I feel as though it pulls one out of the fantasy, but I thought this one necessary. This being the final chapter to SFTA and all. When this chapter ends there will be many cliffhangers, questions unanswered, and issues brought up from the very roots of most of the characters' hearts. But do not worry. SFTA is merely the first installation to a three part series. I will be taking a break from this series for a few weeks, however, to focus on my other stories such as Bone To Ash, The Panda With The Catnip Heart, my own version of KFP 3, KFP Blitzkreig Bop, and Imperial Conflict. For those of you who are dedicated to the story, I will be planning on rereleasing it after making any and all corrections in every chapter.

Also, I will now be taking in students who wish to become better writers. There are four spots left out of the seven, so do not hesitate to imput your name. I have an initial test at the ready for any applicants that shows me just where their faults are and where they need to improve. For the test, please visit my Bio.

I would also like to thank one of the few people I respect. writepassed. He has a great story which everyone should read, for it is a very fluid and suspensful piece of work.

Another point I must add. I want to stress the fact that this is NOT a songfic chapter, but I do have a soundtrack for this finale. Please feel free to download the following music and create a soundtrack on your device before reading to get the most out of this experience. When the (1) is shown, that is the signal to begin playing the playlist:

"Danger-Keep Away" by Slipknot (1)

"Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence (2)

"It's Not My Time" by Three Doors Down (3)

"Sons of Plunder" by Disturbed (4)

"Down On Me" by Motorhead (5)

"The Unforgiven III" by Metallica" (6)

"Never Surrender" by Skillet (7)

"Greyhound" by Swedish House Mafia (8)

Chapter 32: Bartering Toys And Grievances

Tigress must have been truly exausted. For by the time Po had carried her to their bedroom, the beautiful young master had fallen asleep in her lover's arms. The panda couldn't help but smile at her, she looked so relaxed. She was literally curled up in his arms with her arms and legs lining up over her torso and stomach. The tiger's paws were now curled around each other under her chin. Her orange and black face was tucked against his chest with the white tufts along her jawline splayed out on his green vest. And her whiskers would even twitch every few seconds as if she was somehow intuned with just how cute it would make her look.

Po gingerly laid the creature down as to not disturb her rest. She really deserved every bit of relaxation she received. The male sighed inaudibly and pulled the covers up over her til they reached her chin. He pressed his lips just in between her eyes; which made her allow a soft purr. Po stood up straight to leave the room, but as his body heat withdrew from the female, her eyelids pulled themselves open to look up at his features with her sparkling ruby eyes that could see him easily in the dark room; the only illumination was the gentle moonlight that shown through the windows of their veranda behind him.

"Where are you going?", she murmured sleepily as she slowly sat up.

Po gave her a half smile half frown, putting his paws on her shoulders to gently push her back down onto the bed,"Oh no no no no no, please go back to sleep Mai Tai. I just need to get someone to stay up and keep watch.", he whispered with the gentle carress of her cheek with his paw.

"Mmmmokay.", she said in a purr whilst pressing her cheek into his loving palm,"Just don't be too long."

"I'll be quick.", he whispered again and gave her a kiss as soft as a miniscule lick from the wind. Satisfied with his answer, the tiger closed her eyes and allowed herself the comfort of sleep once her male straightened back up.

The panda quietly tip toed out of the room. His large paw opened and closed the door with nary a sound. And without a noise to be heard he made his way down to Koru and Yunwei's room.

Peering through the doorway he saw Koru sitting at the end of his bed. At the head of the mattress was a sleeping Jiu-Ne who had the most peacful look on her face. The white tiger's ear shot into the direction of the doorway, yet Koru kept his eyes shut and his head bowed.

"Come in, Po.", said Koru quietly. Po stepped inside and glanced at the female.

"Hey, so...how're you doing?", whispered Po.

Koru took in a deep breath, opened his eyes halfway to stare at the floor and let out a gentle channel of air through his pursed lips."I'm...confused. Happy, but confused."

"Confused?", he looked back at the doorway, then at Jiu-Ne as Koru nodded his head,"Come on, let's talk downstairs.", Koru did not hesitate to follow the Dragon Warrior outside the room.

Arriving in the sitting room, Koru's face changed from anchored to relieved when he saw the wolf sleeping on one of the couches. The two males sat at an adjacent couch with Po sitting at Koru's right. Koru sat back and crossed his arms as Po did the same. The panda and tiger sat in silence for a few minutes.

Po opened his mouth once or twice to say something to break the silence, but shut it each time. The panda had the greatest urge to speak, but Koru had this certain air about him that said 'I need to talk'.

Continuing to stare up at the ceiling, Koru wet his lips slightly from the amount of talking he'd been doing, and inclined his head somewhat in Po's direction when he spoke,"Did you ever know your mother, Po?"

Po frowned at this question and shook his head with a shrug as he watched the nonmoving paint of the ceiling,"No. I mean when I found Inner Peace, I caught the memory of when I last saw my mother at the age of one. But other than that nothing."

"Understandable. Your race was all but extinct, wasn't it?", replied the tiger in a small sigh. Po nodded slowly."What about Yogan's mother?"

"I don't want to talk about it, can we just get to the point?", asked Po curtly with his ears drawn back.

Koru looked directly at the panda,"Why? What happened t-"

Po pressed his palm over the tiger's mouth and let out a soft growl,"Don't ask, okay? Just...don't ask..."

Koru nodded and once Po removed his paw he spoke again,"Well...I guess I was wondering what you'd do if you ever met your mother as an adult. I mean, I just do not know how I should act around her. Do you know what I mean?"

Po nodded,"Yeah I do. But you know you should really ask Tigress about this. She's basically in the same boat as you."

"That is true...", he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger in thought,"So where will we go after we find out what happened to the king?"

Po sighed heavily,"Well, I had this crazy idea...and it's going to sound really, really big at first. But to me it just makes sense. See, we-", he sat up straight and went wide eyed."Koru, get everyone but Tigress, Jiu-Ne and Yunwei up. Have everyone get their bags and meet back here."

Koru blinked, sat up and looked around as if to attempt to sense some threat that was lurking around the house. After a few seconds of sniffing for scents, peering at a few dark corners and twitching his ears he eyed Po confusedly"O-Okay...", he got up and ran up the stairs. After he reached the top he felt Po rush past him and into his and Tigress' room.

(1)

Po looked at the still sleeping tiger and relaxed a bit despite the tension he was feeling."Okay good, she hasn't caught it yet. I'll have to-", Po's eyes flickered speedily as his legs wobbled. He fell onto the bed over Tigress' legs and lay unconcious.

Mental Plane

Po opened his eyes and sat up panting. He was in the blackness of the mental plane, but things were much different. There was a large mass of blue light to his left in the far off distance. It moved like it was a floating mist or a lilypad on a brooke. He looked up and saw Tigress standing infront of him with her arms crossed looking unbelievably angry. She looked at the panda and extended a paw infront of him to help him up. As he took it and stood, Po noticed that there was someone there with them. A turtle.

"Master Oogway!", Po bowed quickly.

"Save it, Po. We've got bigger problems than showing respect. Besides, our souls have just as much experience as Oogway's, we're on the same level now.", said Tigress in an annoyed tone.

"She is correct, Po.", said the turtle in a sigh."I am sorry for putting you two in the middle of this, but it was all a necessary cause."

"What are you talking about?", asked Po in a wary tone.

"Do you remember Bokyaku?", asked Tigress, who still refused to look at Oogway.

"Bokyaku...", Po blinked and shook his head,"I-I don't think so..."

Tigress pinched the bridge of her snout with her thumb and index finger gently pressing into her eyes,"For the love of all things holy-Did you even think to try and recover all of your memories Po?"

The panda flinched,"No? I figured they'd just come back to me in time, that's what you told me didn't you Oogway?"

"I said that you would begin to remember, Yogan. But I did not say that they would just magically return. You must seek them out yourself. What do you remember?", asked Oogway in a caring voice, but before Po could answer Tigress interuppted.

"We don't have time to play the memory game. Po, Bokyaku is the Phoenix King of Demons, the Lord of Demon Mountain; the original Furious FIve defeated him. And we thought-", she shot Oogway a look,"that somebody sealed him up in that blasted volcano. But apparently we were wrong. Oogway and Moeru had supposedly sealed him when you, Tsuka and I left to seek medical attention."

Po flinched again as he started to regain the memory,"Yeah...yeah and we had left the volcano...I had the least amount of injuries and-and Tsuka needed to be flown back, but I remember...seeing a flash of blue light coming from the side of the mountain.", he scratched the right side of his head as he attempted to remember the details.

"Anyways, they were supposed to seal the bloody bastard but I guess that was a lie.", spat Tigress.

"Now now Seikaku, I did not lie. I said that Moeru and I got rid of Bokyaku. But I did not say that we sealed or killed him. Besides, I was young and foolish at the time. I did not see the necessity of destroying him. I thought that he could be turned."

Tigress scoffed and muttered under her breath,"Embodiment of evil being turned...", she shook her head, then darted her eyes to Po from his outburst.

"Wait, so what did you do with him? And what does that have to do with what's happening right now? And by the way, we need to hurry the hell up and get out of here!", shouted Po as he pointed at the slow moving wave of blue light heading in their direction.

"Wait...gigantic group, an army...they're floating.", she closed her eyes and rubbed her temple from the incoming headache,"Mai Jin?",asked Tigress after opening her eyes to slits at the mass of light,"I was wondering about that. How did you sense him?"

"I didn't sense him, I sensed Moeru! And how couldn't you sense either of them?", Po gave Tigress a look of concern.

"What? I thought you said she wouldn't be coming for five months!", said Tigress as she shot Oogway a look of annoyance, glancing at Po,"And my powers don't work in the Mental Plane, and Oogway put me under before they could get into my initial range!", she almost growled at the turtle this time.

Oogway closed his eyes to avoid Tigress' glare without backing down,"There is something that you two need to realize. Have you not noticed it yet? First she was coming in three months to kill Po. Then she told you herself it would be one month. And I told you it would be five."

Tigress and Po looked at each other, then at Oogway,"So you lied to us?", Tigress said this in more of a statement than a question.

Oogway shook his head as his eyelids rose to see the confused couple. Inside he began to grow nervous at the closeness of the blue light that made it's way into his peripheral vision,"No, not at all. I saw a vision that she would destroy the city in five months time. And that is what I told Po. But the actions that he took to recover his father changed the prophecy. Just as all of your actions changed the first two deadlines."

"So what you're saying is...it doesn't matter what we may or may not think what happens in the future. All that matters...is what we can do about it now. To prevent it or speed it along.", said Po, who was staring at the abyss below him. Oogway smiled and nodded.

Tigress hid a huge smile at this. Now they did not have to worry as much about Po's death.

"You see, even ancient relics like us can still learn a thing or two.", chuckled the turtle.

Po nodded and looked up,"Understood. Now back to why you brought us here?"

"Ah yes, Bokyaku. It was really an unfortunate thing to think that we were about to kill another being. The last of his kind. I had never murdered anyone before, so Moeru and I sent him away. To another part of the world."

"Where?", asked the panda without missing a beat as he balled his paws to fists in determination.

"To a far away land with no name. Not many live in those lands. It is filled with ice and snow and is a considerably large piece of land. He has no doubt been forced to hibernate in that frozen climate to keep alive."

"Oh, no...", sighed Po as he rubbed his temples in realization.

"Finally understand do you?", murmured Tigress sarcastically.

"Yes. Moeru is going to bring him back. You must stop her at all costs. We barely had the strength to defeat Bokyaku as the original Furious Five. And without Tsuka or I to aid you and with Moeru on his side you would stand no chance.", said Oogway determinedly.

"Fine. Can we leave now? Everyone is probably going loopy at the house.", said Po.

"One last thing.", Oogway looked at the two of them after glancing at the blue light in the distance that was closer than before. In only half an hour it would arrive it seemed."You two must tap into your Inner Selves. If the bat army is truly on it's way with Moeru at their side it would be a challenge even for you two."

"What must we do?", asked Tigress, who was beyond asking what new techniques were anymore. She was determined to get out of here, and she was itching for a fight.

"I am afraid that you will have to figure this out on your own. You must prepare for battle. Just remember; to get to the end you must find your beginnings. And to protect your beginnings you must destroy your end. Now go."

Back at the palace

Tigress and Po awoke. They heard everyone downstairs talking. Actually it was more like arguing. They glanced at each other, got up, grabbed their bags that held their valuables minus their clothes, and ran downstairs.

They arrived to see Viper, Yunwei, Crane and Mei Ling arguing and Koru, Monkey and Mantis fighting with Saisei. Jiu-Ne was trying to hold Koru back. Song had been laid on one of the couches.

Tigress put her thumb and middle finger to her lips and blew a loud, ear piercing whistle. Everyone stopped what they were doing, except Saisei who punched Monkey in the face before stopping.

"Hey! What the hell is going on?", shouted Tigress.

"It's Moeru!", shouted Koru.

"Yunwei's a spy!", yelled Crane.

"She's not a spy, bird brain!", yelled Koru.

"Don't call him bird brain, muscle head!", spat Mei Ling.

"Just stop, okay? Please?", said Yunwei in a sheepish and restrained voice. She was on the verge of tears.

"Enough!", yelled Po. He inhaled deep as everyone went silent again."This is not Moeru. This is Saisei, my...", he coughed the word.

Everyone except Saisei and Tigress turned their heads to look at Po and said in unison,"WHAT?"

"Yeah, I'm his daughter!", spat Saisei as she went to Po's side and looked at him,"I tried to tell them!", she glanced at the group and whispered in the panda's ear,"By the way, can you feel that? Mom's-"

"I know, sweetie, I know.", he patted her shoulder in his one arm hug around the female and looked at the group once again. They all had the most confused looks on their faces while the fact sunk in as they stared at Po, Saisei and Tigress, who had not disputed this,"Now yes, Yunwei is a spy. But Saisei knows a bit of magic and she may or may not be able to rid Yunwei of the seal. Can you?", he looked at Saisei, who scratched the back of her head and showed a doubtful look.

"Erhm...well, I could try it. Mom usually puts those things on pretty good. It takes a lot of time."

Everyone blinked when she used the word 'mom' and once things pieced together in their minds, they gave Po a look of betrayal. And then the next wave of shouts began.

"How could you-"

"That was totally uncool-"

"How disrespectful-"

"You make me sick-"

"I never thought you would be capable of this-"

"And to think she still trusts you-"

"Enough!"

The room was again deafened of the onslaught when Tigress let out her small shout.

"After everything we have been through together, you dare to place mistrust in this man? It scares me to think of what may happen to this group in the future. Don't you remember the letter? She raped him!", the female looked at her comrades with a hint of wariness as they looked at each other. One by one, save for Mei Ling and Jiu-Ne who had not read the letter, their mistrust was replaced by guilt, and it showed in the forms of nods, the bowing of heads, and apologies. Mei Ling and Jiu-Ne simply went silent and decided to ask questions later.

After the apologies were out of the way, Monkey was the first to speak up after allowing himself to relax in a chair,"Well what now then? Are we leaving since you're back? And what are we doing about Song?"

"Yes, we're leaving. Moeru and Mai Jin are on their way with the entire bat army.", said Tigress in a tone that showed off her commanding additude. Everyone held in a silent gasp.

"Wait, what about the citizens? And the king? And the Hall of Species? And where the hell is Shiro?", spouted Mantis at record speed, making it almost sound like gibberish.

Viper nuzzled the bug,"Hun stop, you're going to hurt your head like that. Settle down.", Viper looked at Tigress,"But he's right. What are we going to do about all this?"

"We leave, simple as that. Po and I will explain everything later.", stated Tigress as Po rushed back upstairs to get their clothes and make sure no one forgot anything.

"Where are we going?", asked Mei Ling.

Tigress looked to her left with her softly glowing eyes; it was taking less and less energy for her to use her old powers. Her tail twitched anxiously and she let out a small sigh as the army was only minutes away. There was no escaping now. She turned back to the group,"The Imperial City. But we'll have to fight our way out first.", the tiger inclined her head over her left shoulder,"Po, take everyone's things and hide them. The bags would only slow them down.", she called back before stretching out her muscles. She looked at her brother as Po sped around, grabbing everyone's possessions in a blur before rushing into the kitchen to grab the prepared bags of rations. However he clumped all of the group's weapons in a pile in the middle of the area rug,"Koru, Viper, Monkey, Po and I will go outside and fight. The rest of you run to the King's Palace and hide in the catacombs."

"Hei-Wa what are you talking about?", asked Jiu-Ne.

"It's going to be a hard battle, mother. And collateral damage will run rampant. Best that you all get underground.", said the younger tiger as she unsheathed her claws and clenched a gentle fist.

"I wanna fight too!", yelled Mantis.

"So do I!", shouted Crane.

"No, you are the last line of defense if things go wrong and we don't have time to argue! Now go!", she pointed to the door with her claw outstretched. Everyone she commanded got up with Mei Ling throwing Song over her shoulder, but only Mei Ling and Crane made their way out of the front door initially.

Mantis hugged Viper's neck and kissed the snake without a word before hopping away. Viper gave a heavy sigh and allowed herself the promise of what she would tell the bug if she made it out of this alive.

Jiu-Ne hugged Tigress and smiled at her,"You'd better take care of your brother.",Tigress returned the smile and nodded, and with that the elder tiger ran out of the door leaving her young to fend off evil for their mother yet again. And silently Jiu-Ne demanded something from herself. It was the first unselfish demand she'd had since seeing her daughter for the first time in twenty nine years. She demanded that she would finally allow her inner strength as a tiger to awaken so that she may protect her children in the future.

Saisei hugged Po tight and whispered something in his ear. Po raised a brow, as did Tigress as she could hear every word. Viper was too distracted by the sight of Mantis leaving to notice; but the panda nodded and kissed Saisei on the cheek."Fine. But take care of everyone for me, okay? I'm counting on you.", he said softly.

Saisei beamed at him and nodded."I promise!", she gave her father another tight squeeze and ran off. Tigress smiled some at Po.

"You know she really is a cute kid. Even if she's a nine hundred year old teenager.", the female chuckled. Po nodded and let out a soft smile.

"Yeah. Just hope she has more of me in her than Moeru.", laughed Po nervously. Tigress rubbed his back and laid her head on his shoulder for a minute as they watched the last of the escapees.

Yunwei stopped by Koru and looked up at him for a moment, but kept trailing her eyes down to his chest and back up though she was looking at nothing in particular; as if she was too ashamed to look him in the eye. She had tears in her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but closed it quickly and started to run. But Koru grabbed her paw and kept her there with ease. He gently pulled her to his chest, held her in his arms and gave her a deep and passionate kiss. He broke the kiss quickly and regrettably, for they had no more time. He stared into her eyes and whispered,"You are not to blame. I still love you with all of my heart. Stay safe...", he stroked her left cheek and ear with his massive right paw,"and wait for me."

Yunwei sniffled, nodded with a small smile and kissed him again. They hugged, and the tiger allowed the wolf to run away with a his heavy heart in her paw. For it may be the last time his eyes would be blessed by her beauty.

Monkey hopped up on the large tiger's left shoulder and patted his chest with his left paw while laying the tiger's staff over the right side of his huge body with his right paw. He himself held a pair of broadswords tucked in his sash. Koru grabbed his staff and looked at the primate,"Don't worry, man. We're gonna make it through this.", Monkey winced at the thought of the bat army,"I hope..."

"We will.", Koru turned around so that he and Monkey could look at Tigress and Po."We will defeat this wench and her pathetic winged rats! And do you know why?", smirked the feline.

"Because we're the underdogs and they always win?", joked Monkey with a smirk as he rested his left paw on the hilts of his broadswords.

"Because we are the heavy hitters of Kung Fu, and they're a bunch of untrained, malnourished weaklings!", shouted Tigress with an air of confidence.

"Yeah!", smiled Viper with a whip of her ribbon.

"Now how are we gonna do this?", asked the white tiger with a small smile, gripping his staff as his sister's itch to fight began to rise in him as well.

"Okay.", Po slid one of his short swords out that he had sheathed in the makeshift strappings from when he held Tigress in the Fubuki Mountains. He walked outside of the sitting area and knelt down on the hardwood floor, embedding the end of his sword into the wood to start carving a crude map of the area. The other four soon made a circle around it while Po's eyes glowed that familiar green,"Now we need a way to take out a majority of them, otherwise we're screwed eight ways to Sunday. But first off we need to find out if anyone is with them that we need to know about. Say for instance Song's soul. Tigress, I need you to go ahead and look for such out of place souls. We don't want to hurt any innocents or allies.", Tigress nodded and closed her eyes to concentrate as he continued, "Monkey since you're the weapons expert of the Five, you need to take the rest of Koru's weapons and hide them or equip them in whatever way you feel will best give you an advantage on the rooftops. Viper, you go with him. And take your venom with you. After what I have planned you'll want everything on the roof."

Monkey gave him a thumbs up and hopped off of Koru with an almost evil grin to grab the weapons and begin the planning of his pranks. Viper grimaced some from the thought of using her venom, but nodded and went to the kitchen to get her jars.

"Got it. Song's soul is with her, as is Shifu.", stated Tigress.

"Awesome. Now-"

"But I am a weapons expert as well, shouldn't I take Monkey's post?", interuppted Koru while studying Po.

Po smirked,"No, we're going to have a little surprise of our own...", he shoved his sword into the 'map' where the Dragon Palace was while restraining a laugh.

Minutes later, in the sky above Kyrokuyoru City

The rather tired bats finally slowed their speed as they approached the city and soon they simply hovered in the dim lights of the thousands of small torches below and the pale moonlight above.

The scarlet lion smiled evilly as she looked down at the Dragon Palace while standing on the massive back of Mai Jin. The leader of the bats wanted so much to buck this bitch off of his back but for some reason he could not. His mind desired it, but his body refused. Moeru, who sensed the bat's internal struggle, bent down and patted his cheek.

"Now now, don't be like that. There is too much fun to be had for that type of thinking.", she stood up straight and called back,"Hikage, bring me the old fool and the lovestruck idiot."

Another bat, slightly smaller than Mai Jin, floated over to Moeru with the black panther on it's back, along with a large jar in her arms that glowed an eerie gray and an odd looking staff strapped to her back. On the panther's right there was a particularly weak looking red panda.

Moeru turned around and leaned back against the back of Mai Jin's head with her arms crossed. She glared at Shifu."Now tell me, welp. Do your 'students' have any tricks up their sleeves for situations like this?", she knew about Yogan and Seikaku's tactics, but the rest of them were another matter. And she was no fool. She knew they were the Furious Five for a reason and she would take no chances.

Shifu trembled from the amount of pain in his heart. The stone that hung from around his neck had been weighing heavier and heavier with each passing day as if it was sapping the life out of him. He panted quietly into the night as his mouth opened to speak,"C-Crane has an above the clouds technique to confuse and pick off opponents with large numbers. Tigress lures skybound enemies in and disables the joints of their wings. Monkey would ricochet off of the opponents that have such large builds. Viper would take control over one of your men with her grappling technique and Mantis would use his Chi attacks and small build to jump from place to place and disable your men wherever he went.", he closed his eyes in shame from his involuntary speech.

Moeru smiled in satisfaction and stood up straight,"Good boy. Now wave one! Attention!", hundreds of bats swung in and floated above the huge army."Dive formation blue! Now go go go!", she swung her arm down towards the ground and turned to Mai Jin's head again as the troop began their swift desent in a spiral formation. Moeru smiled wider at the sight as she began her 'first person control' technique to send them telepathic commands.

She leaned her forearms on the bat's head and rested her paws together as she concentrated her thoughts on the commands of the weaklings she had sent to test the defenses. But then her smile vanished when a massive orange light flew out from one of the second story windows of the building; the flame took the form of a dragon and swallowed the head on attackers whole, leaving only ashes to shower the ground below.

Moeru hissed and Shifu's eyes went wide. The dragon flew into the air and floated infront of the cat's eyes as it coiled and curled in anticipation of it's next meal. Moeru's face softened to a degree when she noticed the glowing green eyes of the dragon.

"Well hello, lover!", she waved ecstatically with a giggle that made her sound rather disturbed,"Come to join the party already, have you?"

The dragon opened it's mouth wide as Po's voice came through it's gaping maw in a creepy echo,"You will give us Shifu and Song back immediately. Then you will surrender yourself and the bats will leave peacefully."

The red furred feline raised up until her paws leaned on the top of Mai Jin's head like a table as she glared at the inferno inside the dragon's stomach,"Oh so you wish to negotiate, baby?"

Suddenly Tigress' voice made it through the dragon's mouth. This time Shifu recognized the voice, even though it was still very different. He stared into the dragon as well when he heard her,"You dare talk to him like that, Moeru! I swear that I will rip your entrails from your abdomen and shove them into every orifice I can find on your body!", roared the tiger.

Moeru hissed,"Seikaku! I've been looking forward to slicing my claws across your throat!"

"Seikaku?", whispered Shifu in shock. His eyes squinted as if he could see the people within the dragon.

"Then come down here you ruddy bit-", Tigress' voice was interuppted by the former voice that Shifu could only barely recognise.

"Hey, hey, now! Let's not get ahead of ourelves here!", then he began to whisper,"What the hell, Tigress? Plan A does not include a freaking bait and switch! We'd be totally left for fucking dead!"

There was a silence, followed by a soft smack."Po...", said Tigress.

"What?"

"You still have the voice spell activated..."

"SHIT!"

The dragon closed it's mouth and shot up higher into the air to retreat as Moeru grinned to herself and yelled down to the palace,"It seems you're not as ready as you thought, eh lover? Well don't worry I won't kill you, but I will kill that bitch of a mate of yours!", she laughed maniacally and clapped her paws together as an electric wave surrounded her arms. The wave of lightning swarmed around Mai Jin, but did not touch him. But the lightning then transferred and spread to a dozen other bats in the same manner.

Moeru raised a paw up, making two of the lesser bats float higher. And as she brought her paw straight down, so did the bats at a high speed.

They gained even more speed as the balls of electricity fell faster and faster. The exposed wall of the house began to glow whiter and whiter and brighter and brighter from the light headed it's way. The ground almost trembled from the powerful attack. And just when the balls were about to hit the house...

A roar of flame swept passed the large home, swallowing the bats and destroying the attack at the same time. Moeru hissed as she watched the dragon fly into the air once again and dance around almost as if it was mocking her. The moonlight made even the being of flame look brighter as it's fire scales and fur of incredible detail flung about.

"Fine! If that's the way you want it!", she began throwing the other thunderous bats at the dragon. The mindless males that were thrown did not even let out a screech in pain as the power of the sun swept over them and incinerated their being from the swing of the dragon's tail.

Shifu let out a soft and quiet chuckle, but was stopped when Hikage smacked him in the back of the head,"What's so funny, welp?", she hissed.

Shifu had stopped laughing, but maintained a small smile as his eyes stared ever downward after the strike,"Your master-"

"Our master!", spat Hikage.

"Yes, well she is simply making a fool of herself. She may know magic but tactics she does not. It is very apparent."

At this, Moeru turned around and seethed at the old man; she took great offense to this as it was widely known she was a genius when it came to battle formations,"What did you just say?"

"You are hitting fire with lightning. It does no damage to the conjurer, and you have no one but yourself to blame for your loss of energy.", Shifu smiled wider as he raised his head to look at the lion.

Moeru's paws balled into fists,"Y-you're right.", she grumbled. She turned back to the dragon and stared at it for a minute. It floated there almost awaiting her next move. How could she destroy it? The only way to destroy it would be to kill the conjuerer, which she was unwilling to do for now, or to douse it in water. She did not know much water magic. She never bothered to. She was a master of lightning, earth, emotions, fire, a short control over time, mind control, and many others types of magic. But water and ice...

The lion's eyes widened and her mouth formed a smirk. She lowered a paw towards the palace in search for Saisei's mind."Come on, dear...come to mama...", she muttered under her breath in a singsong tone.

Her eyes narrowed as she kept feeling around for her daughter's specific Chi signature. And found nothing. With a frown, Moeru concentrated harder. The air around her began to wave an invisible heat as she emitted a soft glow of power. Finally, her scan for her daughter came up with nothing. The snake was there, the ape was there, Yogan was there. And the only other feline other than Seikaku was the white one. Moeru scowled at the dragon.

"Where is our daughter, Yogan! What have you done with her!", shouted the lion.

"Yogan...", Shifu blinked and rubbed his head with his left paw. Where had he heard these names before? And why was Moeru calling Po and Tigress these names?

Suddenly the dragon's mouth opened up again,"She is not your daughter, Moeru! Not anymore!", roared Po. The dragon then swiftly flew through the air and formed a ball of death as it hurdled itself into the fray of flying rodents. The bats tried their best to move out of the way, but with their minds being controlled their reaction time was too slow. Once the gigantic ball of fire made it's way to the center, it retracted into itself; slowly but surely it grew smaller as if it were about to dissapate.

The bats that were not destroyed flew a little closer to close the gap that was made. Moeru even leaned a bit closer to study the phenomenon. But her eyes grew wide when she noticed the air around the ball move in a dangerous gust.

"Get out of the way you f-!", her shout was interuppted by the massive explosion caused by the backlash technique. It swallowed over half of what remained of the army in a violent and flashy display of power. The bats that were not destroyed were flung into the distance or into the surrounding ground.

The roar created by the explosion shook the ground under the city, causing inevitable screams from the now awakened citizens as the smaller buildings began to crumble from the amount of pressure in the air.

Monkey hid behind the chimney and clung for dear life. Viper coiled tightly around said chimney, wrapping her body around Monkey's wrists to help him keep hold. Koru simply spun his bo staff all around his body in a few swiping techniques to keep away the majority of the gusts and glared at the explosion as he stood on the wall and got into a crouching position. The orb of power became stablized once again and maintained it's form while the oxygen around it allowed the flames to regain their dexterity. It now looked like a miniature sun. And from this distance it felt like one too.

"Almost ready", he thought as the the now massive ball began to drop on the neighboring palace, the Pig palace, where no one was currently residing.

The ball smashed into the mansion and sent out a wave of destruction. The walls around the flames crumbled and allowed the fire to spread within instants.

Koru jumped into the air with all his might in a backflip, similar to Tigress' Tahlia Flip, as the wave of flame slammed through the walls around the Dragon Palace; the height he took, coupled with the force of the wave from the explosion, sent Koru up to a low flying bat as the inferno smashed through the stone like it was nothing but wood.

The white tiger dodged the swipe from the bat's claws while continuing his flips, then kicked off of the top of the bat's head to extend his flight. His eyes narrowed slightly in pain from the distant screeches that could now be heard. He was still a ways away from the actual horde, but they were not his destination...

Koru pulled out eight shurikens, and one by one he tossed them into the air and smacked them into eight seperate bats with his staff in a continuous diagonal spin.

The bats he struck took the bait. And with their dripping wounds they flew down to Koru with more speed than he had expected. Still somewhat in his hangtime, the tiger spun himself until he was upside down and kicked to begin his freefall.

The bats he stabbed soon surrounded him and the battle began as the group glowed in orange from the fiery ground below. They slashed at his body, tearing away his white shirt save for a few strands around his shoulders and cutting open his still fresh stitchings. The tiger fought back, swiping his staff into the jaws of two of the winged rats and breaking the bones he made contact with; they fell away from the fighting crowd while holding their destroyed jaws. One bat grabbed him from behind in the fall, but he jammed the butt of his staff into the creature's eye. The thing shreiked in pain and let go of him to allow his brothers to finish the tiger off.

Koru growled and flattened his ears from the high pitched shockewave. His vision was now temporarily blurred, and he could see the ground coming closer and closer. The dizzy male saw a claw slash at his throat, almost in slow motion from the force of the wind. He leaned his body back, causing the bat's smallest claw to merely make a long cut across his chest. Koru grabbed the extended arm and used the quickened speed from the wind to carry his legs higher and kick the attacking bat in the throat.

He swiftly took advantage of their position and put the bat in a headlock with his feet. The bat struggled while they still fell but with the shifting of his weight and jerking of his ankles, Koru snapped the bat's neck.

Koru felt the ground come ever closer. In the nick of time he dug his claws into the corpse' leg and held on until they smashed into the ground.

The contact from the fall made a crater, and a dust cloud surrounded the male. As he lay there, his thoughts swarmed over the idea that perhaps he could take a nap. He damn near felt like it. His body ached all over. And the broken bones from earlier that night had still existed. In fact his ribs were screaming in pain. As was one of his legs; he was completely unsure as of now which leg was actually broken, but the pain he felt would not allow him the luxury of thinking clearly. He could only thank God that he had no feeling in his wrists right now, the pain would surely have been unbearable to top off the rest off his suffering.

With dust filling his lungs in the stead of air Koru coughed and sat up, deciding that a nap was now impossible. He took off the last few shreds of his shirt and balled them into a rag to put over his mouth. He breathed a shallow breath and almost slitted his eyes to see. This was not just dust anymore, he could tell that now; it was smoke.

Peering around, Koru found a few smoldering flames settled on the ground where some of the charred remains of bushes and dead enemies now stood. The exterior wall of the mansion could be seen from where he sat through the clouds of ash and death; his staff helped pull him up at this realization. He needed to get inside.

He coughed hard into his rag from the lack of air and made his way to the building in a slow pace from his weakened state. He began to notice peciuliar facts forming in his head from the results he had determined by a mere glance around.

There was no sound, no battle being fought. At least from where he could hear. Of course he once heard that burning buildings sometimes cause the area surrounded in it's midst to fill with a soundless smoke from the building's materials.

The weary tiger was running low on oxygen. And he was still three quarters of the way between the middle of the yard and the back door. He saw a dead bat laying to his right with it's mouth shut. Grimacing, Koru leaned down and clasped a paw around the corpse' muzzle. He put his lips to the dead one's mouth and smacked his fist into it's chest. The last breath the bat took was now his own. It was not much air in comparison to the size of the bat's lungs, but it was plenty for the tiger's.

The almost vomitting male took this bitter breath, stood, and limped faster towards the house.

He found the door. Thank God. He opened it, shut it behind him and fell to his knees retching.

"This plan...if I ever get my paws on that panda, he's a dead man...", thought Koru before letting out a small puddle of vomit. His coughs must have been heard, for when he was in mid heave he heard movement from somewhere in the smoke surrounded home.

He stood weakly, only vaguely ready for a fight.

"You are a good warrior, tiger.", whispered a voice from seemingly everywhere.

Koru bared his fangs and slowed his breathing."Show yourself!", he stared at the empty sitting room in the distance. He took a step forward, but felt something rush behind him.

He turned around. And finding nothing, he glared at every blind spot he could think of,"Where are you?", the male growled.

The voice that appeared from everywhere focused slowly behind him until the sound was boldly pinpointed,"Why Master Koru, I am right...here!", hissed the voiced as Koru felt a pair of claws dig deep into his sides. The cuts he had recieved allowed the creature behind him to dig it's claws deeper into his flesh until she was scraping and flicking his kidneys.

Koru roared in pain. It was too much. He tried to kneel down, but the creature's claws held him up.

"Ah, ah, ah. Stay up Master Koru or I'll mince this pretty body of yours.", purred the feline.

Koru's pain filled eyes shut, and he leaned heavily on his staff in his hunched over position.

"Get away from me, you bitch...", growled Koru.

Hikage giggled darkly and pressed herself against his back."Oh but you smell so...arousing.", her nose twitched as she sniffed the large wound on his left shoulder and slid her rough tongue over the open flesh; the action made Koru growled louder and he attempted to push her away with a weak wave of his left paw, but he quickly grabbed ahold of his staff again."Your blood tastes devine...", she leaned up to his ear and whispered,"This will make a good feast."

Koru's eyes shot open wide and he roared in pain yet again as she bit into his left shoulder like she was attempting to tear the flesh from his bones. He could take no more. Koru fell to his knees and his roar grew weaker when the panther shoved him to the floor and kept drinking. Koru watched Hikage as he lay there. He couldn't believe he could be taken down so easily. And he was going to die. Hikage's lips were too preoccupied with his blood, but Koru could see the glee and joy she took from taking his life by the shine in her disgusting eyes.

Koru closed his eyes. He was so tired. And the numbness was beginning to take over.

Suddenly he heard a distant roar. And he felt the slightest tug on his left shoulder. He could feel arms lifting him to his feet. And he heard his name being called. It was a sweet voice.

"Koru. Koru honey, open your eyes.", said the voice. Whoever it was sounded worried.

"I'm tired...", he whispered.

"I know Koru but we have to leave. We can't stay here.", said another voice. It was a male behind him. He then heard the sound of glass breaking behind him.

"Can't stay here...", Koru nodded and lifted his heavy eyelids halfway. Everything was blurry. He saw a white figure holding up his right side, and an orange figure holding up his left. He kept his head down and let the two figures lead him out the front door. He heard an annoying scraping noise coming from his right. It took all of his focus to realize he was still gripping his staff. Through it all he still held onto it. Why?

Maybe something told him to keep himself awake just a little longer. Maybe it told him if he just focused on that feeling of keeping ahold of the metal staff then someone would come in time. And apparently someone did. He dare not let go of the staff. He would not let his rescuers down, whoever they were.

Koru now felt a sack being put over his muzzle, and his eyes stung. He shut his tearing eyes and kept walking. He could breath almost normally from the sack, but the air was still very dense. Strangely enough he now felt himself being brought up a slope. And then he was laid down on a very evenly surfaced hill before the sack was taken away. He could feel the fresh air entering his lungs.

He opened his eyes to see all of the bats in the sky flying down towards the mansion. He could not see the first floor, but every single one of the bats stuffed themselves into the building as the once black sky was now turning gray and the sun was now barely creeping on the horizon. He saw three figures hop ontop of the roof. He heard very hateful speech but could not make out the words.

Then someone helped him raise his head up. And he leaned on the soft surface that now cradled his head as he could take the full view of the still somewhat smoky mansion. He looked up and saw the white figure again and smiled. His vision was clearing and he could see the wolf again. She smiled back, but he could see her tears. Even though they looked sad she had the most incredible eyes.

Suddenly an explosion disrupted his peaceful thoughts. He sat up a little from the sound alone, and it felt as though someone was slapping him awake when he saw the fiery building burning and taking every bat with it.

Looking around, he now noticed what they were sitting on. A massive slab of the Inner Wall that was leaning on the Rabbit mansion, or what was left of it. Now the only thing that sat where the Rabbit mansion once stood was a pile of rubble and stone. Everyone was now standing on the slab, save for he and Yunwei. And Song's body was behind the group still dead to the world. Continuing his gaze, he saw that most of the Inner Wall was completely destroyed, as well as the King's Palace and most of the buildings within the inner part of the city. The market had been completely obliterated. And through a huge gap in what was left of the Inner Wall, he could see in the distance citizens now slowly pouring out of the main gates. No doubt they now had many ladders set up.

"Get up", he heard someone say. It was a female's voice, but no where near as sweet as Yunwei's. It was a harsh voice, yet held no wrath. He looked up to his left to see his sister standing beside the two staring at the smoldering pile of destruction that was once their home.

Koru slowly stood up with Yunwei's help, still leaning on his staff. He was very weak, yet he did his best to put up a tough front. Yunwei held his left arm with both of hers and stared with the rest of the group.

In the front of the group from left to right facing the continuous smoke was Monkey, Viper, Crane with Mantis on his hat, Mei Ling who had one of Crane's feathers tucked in her vest, Po, Tigress, Yunwei and Koru. Behind them Jiu-Ne was standing beside Song studying a scroll that Saisei, who was standing on Song's other side, had her to read. Every male aside from Po and Koru was wearing a corsage from the grown Violets and Tulips. Even Mantis had the petals strapped to his back. It made him look silly, but he ignored it.

Tigress scanned the pillar of smoke that rose into the dark night sky yet she kept her sights on the base. Her red eyes glowed while her eyelids narrowed."Po..."

Po nodded,"Yeah, I see."

Everyone else in front glared at the smoke to see if they could find what the two were talking about, and soon everyone got their answer.

As the smoke began to clear, three figures stood amongst the wreckage. It cleared even more as the wind blew. From left to right stood Moeru, Hikage with the jar in her arms again, and Shifu. The group could hear a soft, slow clapping coming from the lion.

"Grande. Simply grande, lover. Dousing female bat pheremones inside the house, how clever.", beamed Moeru. Shifu glanced back and forth between Moeru and Po. He was immensly confused."You have learned a few tricks. Wish I could say the same for your bitch!", she hissed.

Tigress flung her ears back and snarled viciously. She started to step forward, yet Po put his paw on her arm and whispered,"She's just trying to get a rise out of you. Ignore it.", then as the female straightened up and tried to calm herself down, Po looked back at Moeru,"We want to barter."

Moeru gave Po an amused look and crossed her arms,"Oh? What do you propose?"

"Give us back Song's soul and Shifu and release Yunwei from your seal, and we will not stand in your way when you unseal Bokyaku.", he said, which Tigress looked at him and opened her mouth to speak; she was stopped when he put his paw up to her face, not looking away from the lion.

Moeru's eyes widened and she raised her brows,"Hm. Interesting idea. But I think not.", she waved her paw at them dismissively as she looked away to her right momentarily.

Po let out a low growl,"What do you want then?"

"I want Seikaku dead, Saisei back with me, and you by my side as we rule China.", she gave a wide grin as her scarlet eyes darted to the panda.

"You're insane.", Po shook his head.

"Mmmm perhaps.", she tapped her chin,"But I stand by my wishes. Besides, insanity is so much more fun!", she giggled and and did a series of cartwheels and flips before landing at the foot of the slope with a smile on her face.

She studied the group as they glared at her, and she weighed her options. Truly if they attacked now she would be finished. If she had stayed with Hikage and Shifu, she could have been defended. But where would be the fun in that?

"I tell you what.", said the lion in a matter-of-fact tone, placing her paws behind her back and pacing back and forth,"I love a challenge. And I adore the thrill of causing people trauma. So pick someone to become my slave, anyone in your group. And I will give you back the leopardess' soul and the Grandmaster. Then we can have a little race to Bokyaku's hibernation chambers."

"Hold on. Where is King Hogonepai?", asked Po.

Moeru giggled,"Oh lover, what in the world could we have done with an old man like that?"

"I'm serious, Moeru. Come clean, where is he?", the panda began to scowl.

"Maybe he's in that cunt's fat belly where her bastard child should be.", smirked Moeru.

Tigress started to run down to Moeru, but suddenly Koru jumped down the slope with the aid of his staff and swung his staff downwards in his landing infront of the lion. He missed, but kept swinging.

Moeru laughed as she easily dodged Koru's staff swipes."Are you really that dumb?"

Koru snarled at her as he stopped his assault and leaned on his staff again, panting hard,"Dumb or...not. You shall not...speak to her like that!", he then felt Moeru's foot slam into his face. Koru flew back and smacked his body into the slope with a sickening thud and multiple, simultaneous snaps.

Koru tried to stand, but Yunwei held him down and shook her head, her face was covered with concern.

"I will speak however I wish, tiger.", spat Moeru.

"Moeru please, tell us. He is a good friend of Oogway's.", said Po.

Moeru narrowed her eyes at the panda and slid her tongue over her fangs in a small frown,"And therein lies the persona I cannot stand. Yogan, you are a god. But so is King Hogoneipai. And unlike you, he does not bask in the glory of the living.", her lips formed an evil smile.

Po's eyes widened. Tigress looked back and forth in between the two, but said nothing.

"You didn't."

"I diiiiid.", giggled Moeru in a sing song voice lookig very proud of herself. Po lowered his head as she continued,"And you were toooooo late!", she began to do a few cartwheels until Tigress ran down the slope at her.

Moeru stood at the ready and for a moment, both the lion and the tiger's eyes locked. Both pairs of irises glowed for an instant, and the fight began.

Moeru created a wall of flame with a sliding foot in a swing kick around the ground that surrounded her. Tigress flipped into the air and dodged the flames as they swung outward towards her like a drawbridge, then she performed an ax kick straight downward at the lion.

Moeru could not dodge Tigress' speed, but she did block it with her right forearm. As soon as Tigress felt Moeru's arm, she swept her leg down to Moeru's side and grabbed her extended wrist to pull out her arm from it's socket. Moeru growled and swung her claws at the tiger with her other arm. Tigress grabbed Moeru's other wrist by letting her right paw release Moeru's arm. Moeru attempted to wriggle her right arm free while Tigress was distracted with her left, but Tigress did not allow her enough time when she flung her knee upwards into Moeru's chin.

The lion growled again, twisted her wrists and pulled her arms up and back to pull away from the tiger. Once her grip was taken from her, Tigress attempted an open palm strike into Moeru's stomach. Moeru dodged by pulling her abdomen back, then spung up and did a brief handstand on Tigress' arms before flipping over her and elbowing her in the sides. Tigress saw this coming and flipped herself onto her paws to dodge the attack, then she double kicked Moeru in the lower back.

Moeru hissed in pain and stumbled forward. She glared over her shoulder at the one she hated with such a passion. Her eyes glowed yet again, her claws outstretched and extended unnaturally. They began to turn from black to green.

Tigress glared over her own shoulder in her crouched position. She extended her claws as well, the fur on the back of her neck bristled. Her tail twitched in hatred and her throat emmitted a dangerous snarl.

Neither of them moved. They stared each other down as if picking off any defenses predicted by the other. The wind around them blew softly as the sun was now entirely visible, yet barely floating over the edge of the world. It created dismal shadows under the fighters.

Tigress twitched her nose in suspision when the wind blew. Her eyes glanced at the claws of Moeru, then they narrowed. She uttered one word, yet with the word spoken it shook everyone from what small shred of nerves they still held onto.

"Poison."

Moeru grinned, her fangs now bared.

Po tensed up like never before,"Honey please be careful! Take no chances, remember what Oogway said!"

Everyone glanced at him, yet kept their focus on the fight.

Tigress nodded slowly and closed her eyes. And Oogway's voice began to sound in her head.

"To get to the end you must find your beginnings. And to protect your beginnings you must destroy your end."

"To get to the end...", she thought as she deciphered the riddle,"The end of Moeru's life."

She breathed in deeply,"I must find my beginnings...the true birth of my soul.", she began to remember her life as a youngling. In her parents' loving embrace. They had pride and beauty, for they were dragons. The bloodline must somehow be continued.

"And to protect my beginnings...", she opened her eyes."My child..."

"I must destroy my end...", she spoke the last part as her eyes glowed fiercly. And suddenly the ground shook around her. Her fur began to change and clump together into scale like forms. Her irises narrowed. Her claws and fingers began to grow longer.

But then she stopped all changes. She now felt immense pain in her side. She turned her eyes towards the lion behind her.

Moeru had a look of relief, shock only showing as a ghost in her features."Well now...you almost gave me a scare there.", she leaned down and whispered into Tigress' ear in a singsong tone,"If only you'd have practiced a little more, your baby would have lived you little whore."

Tigress twitched in pain and she stared wide eyed at Moeru. The claws in Tigress withdrew, and Tigress collapsed onto the ground.

"No!", shouted Shifu and Po in unison. Yet only Po took action. Before Moeru could blink, Po kicked her in the side of the head as hard as he could. She took the hit, but merely tumbled to the ground a few feet away.

As Moeru tried to recover, Po took Tigress, who had returned to normal and was foaming at the mouth, into his arms and dashed back to the group.

Moeru stood and smirked, rubbing her head from the hit.

"Finally", she turned her back to them and walked away with a huge grin on her face. Seikaku was going to die. So she and Yogan could be together.

"Moeru, stop! Give me the antidote! Now!", roared Po with his eyes glowing red in pain and anger.

Moeru would not stop walking, but said teasingly,"If you give me a slave, I'll tell Saisei which poison I used and she can heal her herself."

Saisei flinched slightly and looked at the wound.

Everyone looked around at each other. They did not have much time. But who would take up the role? Viper hissed involuntarily out of her grief. Monkey gripped his swords as if he was about to cut off Moeru's head. Mantis paced back and forth on top of Crane's hat as if thinking of a way out of this. Crane was doing the same thing, yet he stood in his spot and stared at the feline he considered a sister. Mei Ling tapped her foot repeatedly, wiping a few tears from her eyes as if contemplating something and repeatedly glancing at Crane. Jiu-Ne sobbed silently as she knelt down on the other side of Tigress, covering her own mouth as she stared at her dying daughter whilst a million factors invaded her head; she could save her daughter's life, but she would never see her again, she was facing the same problem she had to deal with almost thirty years ago.

Koru growled lowly. Yunwei looked down and closed her eyes. She knew there was nothing she could do. She felt so useless. Everyone always did the fighting for her. And when the oppurtunity to help presented itself, she was already a pawn. She could not sacrifice herself for the trade. Suddenly a voice made her eyes shoot open wide.

"I will be your slave.", said the voice.

Moeru stopped in her tracks. Hikage smiled wide and licked her lips. Shifu looked down solemnly.

"Swear it.", stated the lion without moving."Swear that you will be my slave forever, and you will have your old geezer and the slut's soul back."

"I-I...I swear...", the voice started. Everyone looked at the speaker and shook their heads. Some yelled at the speaker and even smacked their face to get them to stop this foolishness. But it was no use. Their mind was made up.

"To be...", said Moeru.

"To...be..."

"The slave of Moeru...", Moeru's eyes glowed a soft red at the same time as the speaker's irises did.

"The slave of Moeru..."

The two began to speak in unison,"forever...and for all eternity. Until my life is useless to her, or her just rule deems me free, this contract shall always stay true."

Moeru bared her fangs in a wide grin, her tail swung back and forth in amusement."Denounce your friends, and all bonds."

"None of you are my friends. I feel...I feel no remorse for your eventual deaths.", he looked around at the stunned group staring at him; all of them had wide eyes, and some even leaked tears. He looked down sadly.

"Now throw down your weapons.", hissed the cat.

He threw down the weapons he carried.

"Now go stand by Hikage."

"Yes, master...", the male walked down the slope, stopping only to look back at his friends for the last time.

Moeru growled,"Now!"

The creature squinted his eyes in pain. He knew he was doing the right thing. Everyone else had their hearts bonded to someone; moreso than just friendship. So he turned back around and continued his walk.

Master Shifu looked at him sadly. The pain in the red panda's heart seemed that it would never end. And now with tonight's events, it never would.

The male only glanced at the Grandmaster, and returned his gaze to the panther's side as his eyes found the residue he'd been holding back.

Finally he stopped. And turned around. He could see everyone on the slope. No one said a word. But he heard a voice to his far left, though he put his head down from the words.

"This is certainly not...the way I would ever have wished to tell you this, but...", Shifu sighed heavily, sadness feeling like they would forever be in his eyes,"I am proud of you...Monkey."

The primate nodded slowly and closed his eyes.

"Monkey...", said Viper sadly with tears in her eyes.

Mantis hopped from Crane's hat to the stone to get slightly closer, as if maybe he was seeing things.

Koru gripped his staff and growled again.

Po looked at Monkey as if his heart had just been broken, and he mouthed the words 'thank you', to which Monkey nodded with a small smile. He took a minute of silence to honor his friend's sacrifice. But he bit his lip and spoke up in almost a growl of bitterness,"Moeru. The deal."

Moeru's ears perked up and she spun around with a look of complete innocence on her face. She clasped her paws together under her chin,"Oh my my my, I completely forgot! Saisei I used the Puramu poison. Better hurry now honey, or your step mommy won't live to see her stillborn blood!", the lion actually flinched when Po gave her a demonic snarl, but shook it off and reared her head to the panther,"Hikage, be a dear and let loose the soul. And Shifu I release you from your bond.", she spoke the last sentence deadpanned and with a dismissive wave of her paw.

Shifu sighed heavily in relief as the stone around his neck stopped glowing and he ripped the rock off before throwing it to the ground. It crumbled into dust.

Hikage pressed her palm into the top of the jar as it popped open. The strange gray light turned into a brightly blue glowing mist. The mist flew out of the jar and sped towards the group. The group parted and allowed the mist to rush passed them into Song's body.

Song immediately gasped a deep breath and panted hard. She began to seize from the transition. Her eyes began to glow blue. Saisei began to chant softly under her breath infront of Tigress as Yunwei went and knelt beside Song to make sure she didn't smack her head in the stone hill.

Everyone else turned back to look at Moeru with angry features. Moeru blinked when she noticed Po with Shifu at his side and noticed the dust that was softly settling beside the panda's feet.

"Perhaps this race will be shorter than I thought. No matter, we have settled things. For now.", the lion's eyes flashed mischeivously.

"What do you mean, Moeru?", Po glared at her from his now kneeling position beside his mate, who was now breathing normally again and was no longer foaming at the mouth. Saisei had even managed to pull the green goo out of Tigress' wound, but now Tigress started to bleed freely.

"Dad, we have to go. She doesn't have much time, she needs medical attention.", whispered the liger.

"I was simply referring to the race, lover.", said Moeru as she walked to Hikage's side. Hikage began to glow purple. And once Moeru made it to the panther, the purple glow passed around the two along with Monkey in a protective orb."But. All this simply does not matter.", Moeru turned around back towards them, shook her head with a disturbing smile and showed fake caring eyes."You see, I don't think I can chance you beating me, lover."

Po growled,"What the hell are you talking about!", he yelled. Viper's eyes widened.

"Oh Yogan. I am so sorry for this. But you must go through death once more. But I promise you that I will rebirth you with Bokyaku's power!", she replied."You are all about to die in...", Moeru looked at the sky,"three minutes.", she sighed and looked to the ground.

"You spout nonsense. We have the bigger group, even if you've got Monkey with you!"

"Lover, do you not remember? I am nothing if not tactful.", she said. Viper slithered over to Crane and whispered to him as Moeru continued."I knew that you would find some way of destroying my horde of bats. And although I did not know you were going to be so bold with it, I knew you would somehow aquire the things I have taken from you.", Crane looked at Viper disbelievingly, but when she nodded vigorously, he took off. Moeru watched and smiled in her devious way. She turned her gaze back to the group"And with such losses, I knew I had to be certain that you would all die no matter what happened in this city."

"What have you done?", asked Po in a darkly serious tone.

"Dad, seriously, she needs help!", whispered Saisei,"I don't know any healing spells!", Po closed his eyes and nodded.

"Fine.", he said under his breath so that only Saisei could hear, but raised his voice when he opened his eyes and raised his head,"We're leaving."

Moeru inclined her head to the left and stared up at the sky,"Mmmmmm, I don't think so. Goodbye, lover. I will see you again in one year. At the beginning of the Summer Solstace.", she kissed her palm and blew it to him. At that moment, Crane came swooping down in front of them. He landed on the stone hill in front of the panda leader.

"Po! We've got trouble!", he panted, looking helplessly defeated.

"Why, what's going on?", asked Po as he laid his paw on his lover's wound; his paw began to glow blue as the wound closed on it's own, and he flinched when a wound began to open in his side. Saisei threw her father a worried look.

"Her army is out there! Her entire army!", the whole group, even Koru who was laying below, looked at the bird."And that's not all. Po, they've surrounded the city."

Po growled under his breath."Then what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"I think you know exactly what you must do...Po.", said Shifu as he stared at the panda. The expression was strange. Po wasn't sure if he had a look of respect for him or a look of sorrow.

Po stared back at him, searching his eyes for some clue. And then it hit him with the raising of his eyebrows,"But Shifu, I...I can't...", Po looked back at the love of his life and rubbed her abdomen softly.

"You can, everyone here is counting on you. And I am much too weak to pull out a group of this size."

"It's not that, Shifu. Not everyone would survive.", said Po, his voice barely able to be heard from the sound of the drums in the distance.

"Tigress will be fine Po, you have made sure of that.", smiled the red panda hopefully."Besides, even the severely injur-"

"Tigress is pregnant!", snapped Po.

Shifu froze. His chest began to rise and fall rapidly as the drums drew closer. The drums and his chest were almost in sync."I...I...", Shifu blinked repeatedly and cleared his throat,"If you provide the power, and I provide the control, we can perform the technique successfully without any fatalities."

Po smiled and nodded.

Moeru squinted her eyes and stared at the group while the conversation was taking place. Even with her feline hearing, Hikage's barrier along with the sound of the drums kept her from hearing their lowered voices. Her whiskers stirred uncomfortably when Po and Shifu stood and walked to the opposite sides of the group as the entire group huddled together around Tigress and Song. Jiu-Ne and Yunwei pulled Koru up the slope with great effort. Koru helped by pushing at the ground with his staff.

"What are they doing?", asked Moeru under her breath, yet it did not go unnoticed by Monkey or Hikage.

"It looks like they're...praying?", Hikage's face scrunched up as Po clapped his paws together in front of the group at the foot of the slope and Shifu got into the Lotus position behind them. Everyone in the group was holding their appendeges together in the huddle. Suddenly, Po parted his paws with a roar.

In between his paws was an orb of blackness, yet it took the form of lightning as strains jolted back and forth unstabilizingly in his palms. As Po parted his paws wider and wider, now at elbow length, the ground began to shake once again. The sounds of the drums did not help this as tremors waved over and over throughout the city. The Inner Walls continued their crumbling from before,

"Is-is this an attack! I have never seen this before!", shouted Hikage, who turned to her master. Moeru was simply staring at the event, crossing her arms and flicking her tail in annoyance. Her eyes glowed for a moment. Three seconds later, the sky began to darken.

Mantis glanced up nervously,"Guys...they're firing...", he said warily."Hurry it uuup!"

Po shut his eyes tightly, using all of his concentration to hurry the technique along as his green eyes glowed through his eyelids like a paper trying to cover up the sun. Po roared in pain.

The roar caused Tigress to stirr in her state."Po...", she said quietly in her midconciousness. Her eyes stayed closed, yet she could hear everything. And the sound was horridly familiar.

The arrows sent themselves down and buried into the ground, thousands and thousands of pieces of wood and metal hitting the dirt made for a sound like a blazing fire. Po's ball of blackness grew and grew as he brought it above his head. It was now so large that it shadowed over the entire group. Every arrow that attempted to hit them entered the orb and vanished out of thin air.

Moeru cursed under her breath.

Suddenly Po's arms parted as wide as they could go and the ball dropped onto the group and the slab they stood on. The black ball retracted into itself and disappeared into nothingness.

Somewhere near the Imperial City

A young blue snake child was tending to his family's garden. He hated it so, but it was the life he was meant to live. Oh how he wished something exciting happened around here. Even in the outskirts of the Royal Family's rule, there was hardly any violent actions. No lawbreakers, or bandits at all. All because of the diplomatic genius that was the current Emperor. And that may be fine for most citizens, but for the snake boy, it was torture.

Finally finished with planting the seeds for the bok choy, another annoyance, the boy slithered to one of the orange blossom trees and settled in it's shade. Even as a reptile, the boy was very lazy. He did not even take the time to sweat out the impurities in his scales like his mother always told him to. Of course he did once in a while, but for the most part his scales were very dull looking and dirty. But what was the point? It's not like royalty would ever visit him.

Suddenly the boy blinked when he saw an orb of darkness form over his precious garden. His yellow eyes stared in confusion as it got bigger. Perhaps he was seeing things, but even still it was the most interesting happening he'd ever encountered. Even in his dreams. So he cocked his head to the right and continued to stare.

The ball eventually became giant. As big as his small home. But even for the size of a small hut, this orb was huge. Then out it came. First, a lot of rubble and stone were spat out onto the freshly plowed dirt. Then came...people? One, two, three, four...twelve people! Out of nowhere!

The snake rushed over to the groaning group. Most of them began to sit up or stirr, but some were out cold.

"H-Hey! I don't know who you think you are, but I worked real hard on that garden! Fix it right now!", huffed the ten year old in anger.

Shifu was the first to speak. He was still on his knees, but he panted and raised a paw,"I-I do apologize on behalf of our clan for our sudden appearance. But it was an emergency. We will fix your garden as soon as our injured are healed."

Just then a scream of horror came from Viper, causing the snake boy and Shifu, along with everyone else aside from Tigress and Song, to look over at what was wrong. Every conscious mind thought one word just now.

"No."

Viper sobbed and pulled out the arrows hastily in desperation. That perhaps it was possible to reverse this tragedy. To bring everything back to normal. Soon Mantis was attempting the same as tears streamed down his own face and onto the white fur that was matted in red.

Tigress opened her eyes halfway and crawled to the one Viper screamed about. Her entire body shaking in fear and pain, she laid her paw on the male's shoulder and stared in a silent prayer.

Once all arrows were gone, Mantis put his antennae to his chest. And then he began to slam his pinschers into the chest over and over again in stubborn attempts. Shifu acted quickly. He barked orders for a cart to be found. And for Crane to fly to the Imperial City. All introductions and explanations of events would have to wait, for they all had one goal in mind.

To keep this panda alive.

To Be Continued...